Auto Insurance - Looks like it's bye-bye to Allstate

[iamwiz82]

Just got a quote for Geico for half the cost with very similar coverages other than the crazy addons that Allstate offers (accident forgiveness, etc).

I was not expecting such a huge drop in price.

 

[ultimatebob]

Funny... when I switched from Geico to Progressive my insurance rates dropped by half.

I guess that it pays to shop around!

 

[waggy]

i tried Geico a few years ago. they couldn't beat the the price Allstate gave me.

 

[Engineer]

i tried Geico a few years ago. they couldn't beat the the price Allstate gave me.

Same here and it wasn't even close.

 

[Wyndru]

Funny... when I switched from Geico to Progressive my insurance rates dropped by half.

I guess that it pays to shop around!

It's just like with Cable TV companies, you need to switch every couple years to take advantage of the introductory costs that they use to lure people away from their competitors. Then when the prices begin to creep back up you jump ship again.

 

[Demo24]

Allstate always expensive for me, esurance always quite reasonable but wasn't sure how much I should trust them. Mercury ended up being the cheapest for me. Granted I'm under 25 so it was hard to find reasonable rates in the first place.

 

[Engineer]

Allstate always expensive for me, esurance always quite reasonable but wasn't sure how much I should trust them. Mercury ended up being the cheapest for me. Granted I'm under 25 so it was hard to find reasonable rates in the first place.

Same company.

 

[T9D]

Gieco was always way more expensive than my USAA. Then again USAA is the best insurance on the planet. Thank you dad for being in the Navy when you were younger!

 

[iamwiz82]

i tried Geico a few years ago. they couldn't beat the the price Allstate gave me.

It went Geico and then AAA for me. AAA was the closest to being reasonable, Allstate was be far the highest. For reference, the average per car per month for insurance cost is as follows (all 3 have same coverage but are of different values). This is for a lot of coverage, other than rental and roadside assistance

Geico - $80
AAA - $105
Allstate - $160

 

[postmortemIA]

obviously all companies assess risk differently and have different underwriters, so it is possible by shopping around to find a best rate.. but cheapest insurer for you might not be cheaper insurer for me.

 

[Acanthus]

for me progressive was the cheapest by a good 25%

 

[Anubis]

i went from Geico to Progressive and my bill was cut in 1/2 for the same coverage
Allstate wanted more than Geico IIRC

 

[gorcorps]

Funny... when I switched from Geico to Progressive my insurance rates dropped by half.

I guess that it pays to shop around!

Yup

Priced out a few and couldn't find much better than what I was getting at State Farm. Geico was actually by far the most expensive. This was years ago though so I'm sure I'm in a completely different insurance "group" now.

 

[Lonyo]

Only an idiot would stick with their insurance company year on year without at least checking competitor pricing, especially given how easy it is to do.
30 minutes to see if I can save $100+? I sure as hell don't earn that much an hour, well worth the time.

Doesn't mean you have to switch, if the difference is minimal, but considering how much you can save, it's dumb not to check. It should be common sense to shop around.

 

[Dulanic]

for me progressive was the cheapest by a good 25%

Same here. Closest is maybe 25% higher.

 

[IGemini]

Always been with Geico. When I got Allstate and Progressive quotes, they were almost 50% more for their rate. Also helps that alumni from my alma mater get a discount through them.

 

[Zstream]

Just got a quote for Geico for half the cost with very similar coverages other than the crazy addons that Allstate offers (accident forgiveness, etc).

I was not expecting such a huge drop in price.

Same, Allstate was around 200% of the Geico quote. It's weird how insurance works.

 

[waggy]

i have been with Allstate for 24 years.

between car insurance and house insurance my rates are dirt cheap. every few years i do look and see if anyone else is cheaper. so far nobody has been.

insurance pricing is so messed up.

 

[Slew Foot]

i have been with Allstate for 24 years.

between car insurance and house insurance my rates are dirt cheap. every few years i do look and see if anyone else is cheaper. so far nobody has been.

insurance pricing is so messed up.

Same here though not for that long. When you combine multiple plans the rates drop fantastically.

 

[KK]

insurance pricing is so messed up.

Yes it is. I just recently switched to geico from progressive. With 4 cars on progressive it was going to be 1050 for six months. I got quotes from pretty much all the major insurance companies and Geico beat them all at $850. Progressive was actually the second cheapest, all the rest wanted 1400-1600 with the exception of state farm, they wanted 2600. what the fuck are they thinking...

 

[DesiPower]

Everytime you switch, no matter from who to who, you will save money.wait for a year and you will be back to square one.
I switch every two years between AAA, Allstate, geico and progressive. Take my whole package, three homes and two cars and save a lot of money

 

[kamikazekyle]

I was with Progressive, but they wanted ~$2000/yr for my Ninja. Geico wanted $2200. Allstate was somewhere around $2500. Mutual was $1100. Switched to State Farm and it was $700-800ish standalone, or $400 with my car. My car rate went up by about $75 per 6 months by going to State Farm, but the with the savings on the motorcycle it was a no brainer.

Clean record, no claims, by the way. The issue turned out to be a misclassification of the Ninja 1000 by most insurance companies.

 

[sactoking]

In general, every insurance company assesses risk differently and is looking for a different risk profile, so there is no "best" insurance company.

It's just like with Cable TV companies, you need to switch every couple years to take advantage of the introductory costs that they use to lure people away from their competitors. Then when the prices begin to creep back up you jump ship again.

I see this a lot and it is completely untrue. Insurers are required to calculate premiums based on many factors and they cannot do a "sale" or introductory rate. In fact, it's often the opposite, whereby you get a discount for staying longer because they don't need to amortize acquisition and underwriting expenses into the administrative load any more. People should shop around occasionally due to the risk profiles changing, but realize that the more often you shop and change the more you drive premiums up.

Auto insurance commissions are often paid on a one-off basis, meaning the producer gets commission when the policy is written and that's it. Similarly, something like 90% of acquisition and underwriting expenses are attributable to the first six months of a policy. When you change insurers you increase the admin load that they have to charge all policies. Changing every six months to save $5 is often self-defeating not only because of the admin load costs but also because you take yourself out of consideration for a longevity discount, which are often the best discounts insurers offer.

 

[Wyndru]

I see this a lot and it is completely untrue.

Maybe the term introductory price isn't correct, but I use an agency that is basically a "middle man" for my car and house insurance accounts, and every few years they switch me with the reasoning that it will keep me at a low (or stable) rate. Otherwise the companies keep increasing the rates over time, which I have seen happen first hand looking at my bills.

I know they probably do this to make some money on their end, and they might be getting bulk discounts by moving people around, but I've saved a lot of money switching every few years, so I'm happy regardless of the reasoning behind it.